


What A Peculiar State We're In

by exitthequitters



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Harry is lost, Liam is lonely, Louis is protective, M/M, Niall needs a new job, Zayn wants attention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-11
Updated: 2013-07-11
Packaged: 2017-12-19 03:15:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/878771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exitthequitters/pseuds/exitthequitters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“So we’re stuck here until the manger comes back?” The tall boy with the curls asks. </i>
</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Niall tries to sugarcoat it, but there’s really no good way to spin this. “Yeah, we’re stuck.”</i></p><p> </p><p>Or, they all get stuck in a Marks & Spencer and use the opportunity to make some new friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What A Peculiar State We're In

**Author's Note:**

> A little one shot, cause I was feeling it.  
> I didn't realized till the after I wrote this that you can't actually get stuck in a departement store because you could just call someone on a cell phone or use the phone in the store so just ignore that please?  
> Thank you to Mallory for fixing my grammer and helping me with the actual plot!  
> Please let me know what you think?  
> [My tumblr](exitthewritter.tumblr.com) and [Mallory's!](buttercup-lou.tumblr.com)

Harry can sit in his new, empty house for all of five minutes before he snaps. It’s quiet, so quiet he can hear his mother puttering around in the next room, unpacking way less stuff than they used to have, forced to downside because of Gemma. 

Harry lies on his bed and looks at the boxes and he wants to cry. Doncaster is not for him; not for his mother. Doncaster is for Gemma, because there aren’t very many bars in Doncaster, her old friends who try to push her into things she shouldn’t be doing aren’t in Doncaster. 

Gemma who is already out exploring the new town, looking for something Harry is sure she isn’t going to find. Harry ought to be out there too except, well, he’s not good at going places alone and he doesn’t know anyone around here and his mom is busy trying to make the new house work and he doesn’t want to be the kid walking around with his mother and he’ll just stay home. 

Except his mother apparently can’t take the new, empty house either because she tells him to leave in that roundabout way she has. “School starts in a week. Why don’t you go get yourself some new clothes? We passed a mall on the way in.” And then she’s handing him money they really can’t afford to spend and telling him to take the bus. 

Then Harry is out of the new, empty house and in his new, empty town. Doncaster is not for him. 

-

He goes to Marks & Spencer because he’s pretty certain they sell clothes there but he really can’t be sure. 

And if Harry thought he was bad at going places alone, that doesn’t even come close to how bad he is at shopping alone. He finally finds clothes in the giant department store and all he wants to do is pout. Everything is expensive and doesn’t even know what he should be looking for. Harry’s not cool, he knows that, but he also doesn’t want to be the lame, new kid. He shifts through clearance racks, looking for bland clothes, things that will help him blend in.

His mind is in a million different places buts he’s drawn back to the present by a hard shove to his back. He loses his balance, falling onto the clothing rack in front of him and practically knocking the whole thing down. There’s a chorus of laughs behind him and Harry really should have seen this coming.

Harry picks himself up and reluctantly turned around. There’s a group of boys about his age, all sneering at him, except the one at the front who is smiling cruelly. 

“Look at this wanker, out all by himself.” The boy says and Harry sighs. He knows he’s an easy target but this is just ridiculous. “Listen, faggot, just go home. No one wants you here, so I’m giving you one chance to leave before I make you.” But Harry stands still, staring at the ground, because his mum would be disappointed if he came home without any new clothes.

“Just leave him alone, Stan.” A small voice says from the back of the clump of boys and Harry head shoots up. The group morphs and Harry can see the boy, a small thing with brown hair and a nervous look in his blue eyes. Harry can’t help but stare, mostly because this boy doesn’t belong with the others. 

“Looks like he’s got a crush on you, Lou.” Stan says, shoving Harry again. Louis sighs and looks away. “Seriously, just go back to whatever fucked up place you came from.” 

Then Harry’s done, he’s been here all of one hour and people are already being stupidly mean to him for no reason. He wonders what it was about him that made Stan decide to come over, what it was about him that he would have to change to get people to leave him alone. 

If Harry were anyone else he would punch Stan. But Harry is just Harry so instead he gets up and runs away, to the bathroom to hide. He still needs to buy those clothes. 

-

“What the fuck, Stan?” Louis cries, shoving through the boys around him to get to Stan. “You really hurt that kid!”

“Calm down, Louis. It was just a little hazing, it’s not my fault the kid is too damn sensitive.” Stan shoves and Louis not sure why he’s friends with these people.

It’s then that Louis realizes he doesn’t have to be friends with these people. They’re shit and Louis doesn’t need them. So he walks away, after the poor kid with the big, green eyes. Stan calls after he once but no one tries to stop him. Louis rolls his eyes; they were never really that good of friends.

Louis follows the deep breathing and light sobs he hears when he walks into the bathroom to the last stall and knocks lightly on the door. 

“Hello? Can you open up?” Louis calls. The boy on the other side of the door is silent. “I’m sorry about my friends. They’re pricks and I should have said something. But they’re gone now.” Still silent. “Will you please come out? I want to make it up to you.”

“Can you please just go away?” The boy cries softly. Louis thinks he would have a beautiful voice if it weren’t laced with so much hurt. 

“I will, as soon as I know you’re okay.” The boy huffs but opens the door. His eyes are wet but he hasn’t been crying. “There we go, that wasn’t too hard, was it?” 

The boy rolls his eyes and tries to shove past Louis but Louis puts his hands on his shoulders lightly. “I’m okay. Please leave.” 

“I’m sorry, but no.” Louis replies, rubbing the boy’s arms up and down to calm him.

“Why not?” He pouts. 

“You sound like you shouldn’t be alone right now.” Louis states. They’re quiet while the boy tries to control his breathing. 

“Thank you.” The boy says quietly. “I’m Harry.” 

“Louis.”

-

Zayn has been at the mall all day. Zayn is obsessed. Zayn has a problem. Zayn is okay with this. 

He’s in the dressing room with a pile of clothes to try on about as tall as he is, his headphones blaring Usher. 

So it’s completely understandable that he doesn’t hear the muffled loud speaker say that the store is closing in 10 minutes, 5 minutes, is closed. 

Doesn’t hear the manager walk through the store and lock the door. All he hears is the sweet, sweet sound of Usher. 

-

Liam wanders into Marks & Spencer maybe 10 minutes before it closes. He walks around the store as inconspicuous as he can. He wanders over to a rack of pajama bottoms and walks around it a few times, looking to see if there are any employees around.

“The store will be closing in 5 minutes.” The crinkly overhead speaker proclaims. Liam takes that as he cue and ducks into the rack. He sits quietly while the employees close the registers and the manager locks the front door. 

Liam slowly crawls out of his hiding place and smiles brightly when he sees no one is around. He practically skips to the display beds, ready for his first night of peaceful sleep in a long time. 

\- 

There is absolutely no way in hell Niall is getting a recommendation from the manager here, so he has stopped trying. He should be out vacuuming or closing up the registers or cleaning out the dressing room. 

Instead he is sprawled on the couch in the employee break room, waiting for the prefect opportunity to sneak out. He can hear his coworkers and the manager, Weston, wandering around outside. 

Niall waits until he can’t hear any noise outside the break room and then counts to a thousand. He slowly pushes the door open, completely prepared to pretend he was cleaning out the fridge. 

Except there’s no one there. No Weston, no shoppers trying to by something last minute, no janitors cleaning up. No one. Niall’s alone.

-

Louis finally coaxes Harry out of the bathroom by promising he won’t let anyone hurt him. The promise turns out to be completely unnecessary because no one is in the store.

“I guess it’s closed.” Harry mumbles. 

“Makes sense, it is pretty late. Let’s go then, the front’s this way.” Louis puts a small hand lightly on Harry’s lower back and starts guiding him around the foreign store. They walk past dining sets and large televisions and exercise equipment and kids toys. Harry would be lying if he said the shadows the dark were casting didn’t scare him just a bit. He leans into Louis’s side and lets the older boy steer him and shelter him from whatever might still be in the store. 

Harry’s just starting to think that the store is completely empty and relax when Louis stops and pulls him back. “What is it?” He asks quietly, fully prepared to sit down and accept his fate should this turn into a horror movie. 

“Someone’s asleep on one of the display beds.” Louis answers softly, pointing to where a boy is curled up comfortably on the bed, almost completely surrounded by throw pillows.

“Should we wake him?” Harry asks. Louis shrugs and Harry slowly makes his way to the boy, Louis just a few steps behind him. The boy’s sleeping peacefully, making soft noises and cuddled up with one of the pillows. Harry pushes on his shoulders until the boy jerks awake and stares up at Harry and Louis.

“Hi.” Harry whispers. 

“Hello.” The boy replies, pulling a throw blanket over his head.

“Wake up, mate.” Louis says, grabbing the blanket away. “The store’s closed, you don’t want to get stuck here.”

The boy slowly peels his eyes open and stares up at Louis. “Right. That would be bad.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m Louis and this is Harry.” Louis states, perplexed by the boy. He thinks he’s seen him around school a few times, but Louis’ never been the most observant person.

“We’re going to the front if you want to come?” Harry asks.

“Sure.” The boy answers, rolling out of the bed. “I’m Liam, by the way.” 

-

There’s no way Weston left without him. He knew Niall was working, yelled at him about 4 times during his shift, and Niall typically makes a big deal about leaving. Weston has got to know he’s still here. The man may not appreciate Niall the way he should but he would never leave without him. That would just be cruel. 

The only thing Niall actually knows about Weston, apart from that he has a hatred of most things involving Niall, is that he spends way too long sorting the clothes from the dressing room. So Niall heads there, ready to politely tell his boss that it’s time they all went home, Niall has a nice meal waiting on him.

Niall groans when he hears someone puttering around in the dressing room. Weston really needs a life. 

The locked door really should have tipped Niall off, but instead he just shoves hard, the weak locks giving instantly.

“Whoa, bro, get your own room!” The guy who is defiantly not Weston shouts. Niall groans again. The last thing he needs is some pretty boy who won’t leave all the pretty clothes.

“Sorry buddy, store’s closed. Time to go.” Niall mutters. 

“Really? I didn’t notice.” The guy rolls up the headphones around his neck and shoves them in his pocket. 

“I see that. I’ll walk you out.” Niall sees the large pile of clothes the guy has and is tempted to force him to put them away himself. But instead he just leads the guys out. The silence between them is thick, Niall mad at still being in the store. 

“Niall, right?” The guy finally asks, and Niall has to stop and stare because he took his nametag off the second his shift ended. 

“Do I know you?” Niall questions.

“I’m Zayn, we had maths together last year.” Zayn replies.

“Right! Sorry, I slept through that class.” Niall giggles and Zayn smiles. 

They get to the front door and Niall pulls on the handle to find it’s locked.

Shit.

“Everything okay?” Zayn asks.

“Hey, do you work here?” Niall hears over his shoulder, turning to see three boys walking up. 

“Uh, yep. For now.” Niall calls. 

“Great!” The shortest one says happily. “Can you let us out?”

“Uh, no. The doors locked. The mangers the only one with a key and if the doors locked then he’s gone.” Niall mumbles. 

“Can’t you call him or something?” One of the other boys asks, his arms crossed and a far off look about him.

“I don’t have his number.” Niall answers.

“You don’t have your boss’s number?” Zayn asks, clearly unconvinced. 

“He’s a dick, okay? I deleted it! He’ll be back tomorrow morning, though, to open the store.” Niall says, already feeling the other boys’ resentment. 

“So we’re stuck here until the manger comes back?” The tall boy with the curls asks. 

Niall tries to sugarcoat it, but there’s really no good way to spin this. “Yeah, we’re stuck.”

-

Niall turns the lights on in the store and plugs his iPod into the overhead speaker before leading the group to the living room furniture set up in the home department. Harry sits down on one of the love seats and Louis immediately sits next to him, throwing his arm around Harry’s broad shoulders. Zayn flops down on a coach not far from the pair and Liam curls up on the other end, as far from Zayn as possible. 

Niall stands, watching the group. No one’s speaking and even with the music playing it’s still too quiet in the large store. Niall’s uncomfortable and he’s not spending his night uncomfortable.

“Well, I’ll start the AA meeting then.” Harry stiffens and Louis tightens his hold on him, rubbing his thumb over Harry’s bare arm gently, but Niall ignores Harry’s reaction. Louis looks like he’s got it under control. “I’m Niall.”

Zayn laughs and plays along. “Hi Niall.” He chimes.

“I think we should all start with how we got here. Zayn?” Niall motions that Zayn has the floor and flops down in a recliner.

“I’m Zayn. I’m here because I was trying stuff on in a dressing room and I had my headphones in and I guess I didn’t notice the store closing. Whoops.” He shrugs and sits.

“Liam.” Liam doesn’t stand but Niall supposes he’ll forgive the boy for not playing along. “I, um, laid down on a bed and fell asleep. Guess I was sleepier than I thought.” 

Zayn snorts and Liam shoots him a glare but neither speak up. It’s going to be harder than Niall thought getting these boys to open up.

Louis raises his eyes at Harry and Harry shrugs. Louis rubs Harry’s back as he stands and Niall beams at the two of them. “I’m Louis, this is Harry. We were in the bathroom. That’s it.” He sits and then it’s quiet again. 

“Alright then. Meeting adjourned.” Niall mutters.

“Great!” Harry cries, jumping up. “I’m just going to…go.” And then he’s walking off.

Louis sits alone on the loveseat watching Harry walk away for maybe a minute. Then he’s on his feet and jogging to catch up with the boy before the other’s can even ask where they’re going.

-

Louis finds Harry in the exercise department, slowly climbing a stair machine. Louis sits on a treadmill and watches the boy. He’s way more concerned with a boy he just met than he has any right to be. 

“You could have stayed with the others, if you wanted to.” Harry says, hoping off the stair machine and sitting on the floor in front of Louis.

“I’d rather be with you. Hope that’s okay.” Louis grins, leaning forward on his knees so he’s in Harry’s orbit. 

Harry smiles up at him. “Want to play a game?”

They rearrange the treadmills so they lead into each other and set them up to move at different speeds. 

“Okay, you have to duck when you get to the front of one treadmill and get on the second and I’m going to time you and whoever gets the best time, gets a point.” Harry says happily, getting the timer on his phone set up. 

“That’s dumb.” Louis replies, laughing as Harry turns the speed on some of the treadmills up. 

“We’re stuck in a department store, there’s only so much I can do to entertain you.” Harry mutters, rolling his eyes.

“You don’t have to entertain me.” Louis states, bumping the back of Harry’s hand with his fingertips. 

“I know. Just,” Harry shrugs, “you’ve keep doing things to make sure I’m okay. The least I can do is try to make sure you’re not too bored.” 

So they do Harry’s treadmill obstacle course until their legs are sore and they’re laughing and breathing heavy and tripping over each other. Louis wins because he has a winner’s complex but Harry smiles and congratulates him and tells him he deserves a prize.

“What do I get for winning?” Louis asks. They’re lying on the floor, trying to catch their breath, and Harry’s cheeks are beautifully flushed. Their sides are touching and Louis can feel the boy’s warmth radiating practically all around him. Louis scoots closer and drops his head on Harry’s shoulder.

“I don’t know, what do you want? Keep in mind I’m very limited in what I can give you.” Harry replies.

Louis’s quiet, trying to decide what exactly it is he wants that Harry can actually give him. Except all he wants is to know Harry better. “Earlier, when Niall was talking. You seemed uncomfortable. I guess I want to know why.” Harry turns his head and looks at him. “You don’t have to tell me, like, if you don’t like talking about it.”

“I don’t talk about it at all really.” Harry says softly. Louis nods, prepared to let it go. “But I want to, I think.”

“All right how about this, I’ll tell you something about me that I don’t talk about and then you can decided if you want to tell me?” Louis suggests. Harry shrugs and Louis takes that as he cue to keep talking. “When I was in year 9, I really didn’t do very well. I don’t know, schoolwork was just really hard for me, and I ended up failing most of my classes and I had to repeat the grade. And it just kind of sucked. I felt like I was stupid and I was always going to be stupid and everyone at school wouldn’t stop giving me a hard time for it so that year was pretty bad for me.”

Harry shifts so he can look down at him. “What changed?”

“Well, I started working harder to keep my grades decent. And I stopped caring what people had to say about me. I made some friends and they were pretty shit but most people around here are. Things got better.” Louis smiles up at Harry. This isn’t about him, he’s moved on from year 9, this is about making Harry comfortable, this is all about making Harry feel comfortable. 

Harry shifts so he can’t see Louis, takes a deep breath, and starts slowly telling Louis what he thought he wouldn’t tell anyone in Doncaster. “We moved here for my sister. She started drinking a lot back home, like every night she would go out and come home drunk. My mom and I tried to ignore it, figured she sort out her own stuff. But then one night she got really drunk and decided to drive herself home.” Harry takes a deep breath and Louis wraps his arms tightly around Harry’s waist, pressing his face into the crook of Harry’s neck. “She hit a tree and totaled her car. Broke both legs and a rib. Mom made her go to rehab and we moved here so she’d be in a good environment for recovery.”

“That’s terrible.” Louis whispers. He props himself up on his elbows and looks down at Harry, watching all the emotions in Harry’s eyes. 

“Yeah, so, I guess Niall made that AA comment, and it’s just really fresh in my life and no one in my family really talks about it, so.” Harry shrugs and smiles sadly at Louis. 

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you moved here.” Louis mumbles, pushing a bit of hair out of Harry’s eyes. They smile at each other and Louis puts his head back on Harry’s shoulder.

-

Niall leads Zayn and Liam to the break room. He’s been doing a lot of leading today, and while it’s a bit uncomfortable, he finds he almost likes the responsibility. 

“We must have food.” Niall proclaims. He finds microwave pizza in the freezer and a bag of crisps in the cabinet. He looks over his shoulder and sees Zayn and Liam standing awkwardly by the door. “Well come on! You two are eating too, start looking! And we need plates and napkins, possibly plastic forks.”

Liam starts scouring the kitchen with Niall, finding crackers and cookies and sodas, while Zayn sits unhelpfully at the table. Liam finds plates for all of them and makes the pizza while Niall starts piling their goodies into a trolley. 

“You guys go find Louis and Harry and meet me in the dining room department. I’ll set up dinner.” Niall tells Liam and Zayn. Liam sighs but Zayn jumps up, a spring in his step as he walks towards the door, Liam in toll.

“I know you.” Zayn says, once they’re away from Niall. 

“Do you?” Liam asks in disbelief. No one knows him.

“Yep. You’re on the track team. Pretty good too.” Zayn gets in front of him and stops abruptly, so Liam runs into him. 

“Oh, right. Yeah, I guess.” Liam replies, adeptly not looking at Zayn. 

“Why are you so nervous?” Zayn says, moving so he’s in Liam’s line of sight. “You need to stop lying to yourself. Okay, you walk around school with this giant ass grin on your face and it’s not real.” Zayn shrugs and Liam finally looks at him. “I’m worried about you. Also you’re story about how you got here was complete bullshit.”

Liam smiles coldly. “You don’t know me. Just because we go to the same school and you see me in the hall doesn’t mean you know me.”

“But I want to!” Zayn cries. “I want to know you, okay? You could tell me anything and I wouldn’t judge you or use it against you or anything, alright?” 

“You want to know why I’m here?” Liam shouts.

“I want you to want to tell me!” Zayn answers. 

“I wanted to be here! My parents won’t stop fighting and I don’t even understand why and they fight all night long and I can’t stand it!” Liam takes a deep breath, looks at Zayn, and practically breaks down. “I don’t know how to tell anyone so I can’t stay with any of my friends so I sleep in this stupid store because I don’t want to go home. I just feel so alone.”

Zayn wraps Liam up in his arms and holds him close. They technically just met and Zayn just wants to help Liam, to know Liam’s okay, to see him smile.

“You’re not alone, okay?” Zayn whispers. “You got me. Even if you don’t want me. You can stay at my house if you want.” 

Liam pulls away and looks at Zayn. He’s not crying but he looks closed to it. “Thanks. That’s so nice of you.” 

“I’m a nice guy.” Zayn says with a shrug. “Now pull yourself together so we can go find Louis and Harry. I’m so hungry, I might start eating the clothes.”

Liam giggles and then looks shocked. “I’ve never giggled before.” He says. “I almost like it.”

They check everywhere before finally finding Harry and Louis, curled together on the floor beside a line of treadmills. Zayn can’t help but smile at the pair as Louis stands and pulls Harry up. 

“We hate to interrupt, but Niall made us dinner. It’s in the dining room department.” Liam says, a happy smile on his face as Harry blushes. 

-

The next time the whole group is in the same place at the same time goes a lot smoother than Niall expects. He’s not sure exactly what happened while he was slaving away over their dinner but he’s glad all of the tension in the air is gone. 

Harry actually talks to them without any prompting from Louis. He makes lame jokes and smiles and laughs and behaves like a normal teenager. Niall is so proud of him.

He still sits close to Louis, the two pressed together like they’re afraid the other will disappear. But they play off of each other instead of depending on each other. They all play off of each other. Niall laughs louder than he has in a while and he’s actually surprised with how well the five of them get along.

“So Niall, Liam and I go to the same school but what about you two?” Zayn asks.

“We were partners on an English project last year, Zayn. We go to the same school.” Louis says with a laugh and an eye-roll. 

“I think I go to Danum. I mean, I’m pretty new in town, just got here yesterday.” Harry says with a shy shrug.

“That’s we’re we go! Year 11?” Liam asks and Harry nods. “So we might have classes together!”

“I actually came here to get clothes for school.” Harry says. “I didn’t get a chance to, though.” 

“Well, we have the store to ourselves.” Zayn gestures around, and yes, the store is still empty. “Also lots of free time. Let’s go find you some clothes now. I’m an excellent shopper.” 

Niall laughs, “Yeah he is, you lot should have seen the amount of clothes this boy was trying on when I found him. If anyone can help you find new clothes, Haz, it’s our Zayn.”

“I mean, if you think you’re up for it, Zayn?” Harry says with a smile.

“This is going to be great! You lot clean up dinner and meet us at the dressing rooms in the men’s department.” Zayn’s eyes light up with excitement and he and Harry make their way to the clothes. 

Zayn weaves through the entire department once, touching the fabrics lightly, before circling back through pulling out shirts and pants and sweaters and handing them to Harry. Then they head to the dressing room and Zayn pairs the clothes together until Harry has several different outfits to try on. Harry looks on in awe as Zayn moves through the store like he lives there, like shopping is an art form that Zayn has perfected. The whole thing is a bit ridiculous but Harry’s not going to knock whatever makes his new friend happy.

Harry puts on the first outfit Zayn hands him, a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a long, scoop neck white t-shirt. It’s easy and effortless and he can blend in if he wants, exactly the sort of thing he was looking for before he got distracted. Harry walks out of the dressing room to show Zayn who smiles gleeful when he sees Harry. 

“You look great.” Zayn says, looking Harry up and down. “Louis is going to lose it.” Harry blushes but it would be nice to knock Louis off his feet for a change. “Do you want to go show him?” Zayn asks coyly.

“You really think he’d like it?” Harry asks softly, looking at himself in the mirror.

“Yeah, mate. Who wouldn’t?” Zayn leads him outside and over to the escalators where Louis, Liam, and Niall are sitting and chatting on the tiled floor. “Wait here.” He tells Harry, making him wait behind a rack while he walks over to the rest of the group. “Introducing, the same Haz we all know and love, just in better clothes.” 

Harry walks out in front of the other boys, curling in on himself a little not used to so many eyes looking at him so intently. Louis smiles, his eyes going soft when he sees him. He stands and his fingers gently rub over the hem of Harry’s t-shirt. 

“You look nice, Hazza.” Louis says, his voice soft and his smile fond.

“Yeah, I like the jeans.” Harry replies, a blush clearly evident on his face.

“It has very little to do with the jeans.” Louis grins smugly and Harry laughs. 

“That’s enough flirting!” Liam shouts from the floor. “This is about Harry having nice things to wear to school, remember?”

Louis rolls his eyes at Liam and sits back down. “Go try something else on but definitely get that. You look incredible.” 

Harry turns in a full circle where he stands before going with Zayn back to the dressing room. This is much better than shopping alone. 

“Do you want to know why I was trying so much on earlier?” Zayn asks while Harry is changing. 

“Do you want to tell me?” Harry calls back.

“My parents don’t pay much attention to me. I guess I think that if I spend a lot of money on their credit card maybe that’ll change.” Zayn says, going for nonchalant. 

“I’m sorry.” Harry says, coming out back in his normal clothes, a pile of new things over his arm. “You’re parents are missing out.” 

Zayn smiles sadly. “Could you tell my parents that?” Harry hugs him with his free arm and the pair walk out, arm in arm.

Niall turns one of the cash registers on and rings up all of Harry’s purchases. Harry watches and the feeling of guilt comes back as he sees how much this is going to cost. They don’t have a lot of money, not after paying for Gemma’s rehab. Niall sees the way Harry’s eyes grow more and more distant as the price grows. 

“You can use my employee discount.” He says. “I’m getting fired after this, anyways.”

-

“The display beds really aren’t that bad.” Liam says, leading the group to the bedding department. Niall likes it better when Liam leads, likes that he can do what he likes and not have to worry about 4 other boys getting lost because sometimes Niall spaces out.

“It’s not that late, though. Why are you making us go to sleep?” Louis says, dragging his feet so he hangs behind the group.

“We have to be up when the manager comes in the morning. If we stay up any later, we might oversleep.” Liam states, circling back to get behind Louis and start pushing.

They reach the display beds and Niall does the quickest math of his life, seeing 3 beds and counting 5 boys. 

“Dibs!” He shouts jumping on the center bed, spreading out his arms to take up as much space as possible. The way he sees it, he’s doing the other boys a favor, forcing them to share.

Niall rolls onto his back to see the other boys looking unfazed. Zayn and Liam crawl on one bed while Harry and Louis take the other, careful not to rearrange things too much so there’s less to fix in the morning. Yes, Niall’s plan is definitely a success. He pushes his head under a pillow, willing to take one for the team and give the couples some space to work whatever out.

Zayn falls asleep the moment he gets settled on the bed, his face and body angled towards Liam. They turned out the overhead lights before heading the bed and the whole store is working together to throw beautiful shadows over Zayn’s features. Liam can’t help but stare, almost enchanted but the edge of Zayn’s cheekbones and the way his eyelashes fan out. 

Liam knows Zayn likes him, he’s not dense, but it’s the first time Liam considers that he could like Zayn back. It’s not like Liam never noticed that Zayn was beautiful, it just never occurred to him that Zayn is more than his looks. He’d seen Zayn around school before, he was the boy carrying large canvases around, but the Zayn he got to know tonight is not what Liam expected. 

This Zayn makes Liam feel like maybe he has someone to turn to. So Liam curls into Zayn, his cheek on Zayn’s shoulder, and falls asleep vowing to say yes when Zayn asks him out.

“Can I ask you something?” Harry mumbles, watching Louis’s eyelids droop. 

“Sure, Hazza. Ask away.” Louis closes his eyes completely and Harry uses the opportunity to inch closer. 

“Why are you being so protective over me? I mean, we hardly know each other.” Harry says, forcing his voice to sound casual, the idea of Louis knowing how much his affection means is terrifying. 

Louis opens his eyes slowly, stalling to figure out just how to tell Harry just what’s going on in his mind. “Earlier, when those pricks were making fun of you, you just looked sad and I didn’t like it. You smile and it’s like your eyes light up and your dimple pops out and I really like it. You should be smiling all the time partly because I know you love to smile. I guess I want to do what I can to keep you smiling.” 

Harry’s mouth falls open while Louis speaks, silently watching Louis’s lips as they form the words Harry wishes he could keep forever.

“Sorry,” Louis mutters, “that was probably too much.”

Harry pushes himself forward, gently connecting his lips with Louis. Maybe this is a bad idea, but right now all Harry knows is there is someone in front of him who obviously cares about him that he wants to kiss. It’s not Harry’s first kiss but it’s the first one that feels like something more than just the physical act of kissing someone. Louis brings his hand up and lightly touches Harry’s waist, pulling him closer, while their lips slot perfectly together. They kiss lazily, the late night finally starting to affect both of them, and Louis pulls away, pecks Harry’s chin, and falls asleep with Harry wrapped around him. 

-

Liam wakes everyone up in the morning by waving a box of bagels from the break room under their noses. The sleepy boys follow him single file back to the break room where they eat almost all the food left. Liam eats with a smile, watching his friends wake up at their own pace.

“We need to fix the store before the manager gets here.” Liam says once everyone reaches a level of consciousness. 

“Do we really, though? I mean its all his fault we’re stuck here in the first place.” Zayn says.

“Maybe we should send him a thank you note then. I would have never met Hazza if it wasn’t for him.” Louis says with a pretty smile in Harry’s direction, his hand rubbing small circles in Harry’s leg. Harry wonders if the other can tell there’s something different between them, or if they didn’t even notice the change. Granted, they aren’t acting much different than they were before, so maybe the difference is something only important to Harry and Louis. 

“We’re all friends now, right?” Niall asks, taking the longest to wake up and join the conversation. 

“Yeah, of course Niall. Why would you ask?” Liam says, ruffling Niall’s blonde hair. 

“I don’t even have everyone’s phone number.” Niall answers with a frown. 

So everyone takes out their phone and passes it to the left until they all have everyone’s number. Harry smiles the whole time, he lived in his home town since he was born and never really had a group of friends, always just maybe one or two people he could text when he needed the homework. He’s never had friends like this, friends he could call and be around and who actually wanted him around. He smiles because this is what its like to feel like you belong somewhere.

“We should hang out again before school starts. You know, like outside of Marks & Spencer.” Liam says once everyone has their phone back. 

“My step-dad has a bungalow around here. He won’t mind is we use it for the weekend or something.” Harry replies, already shooting Robin a text. He’ll be so thrilled Harry’s making friends.

“Perfect!” Niall enthuses. “We’re going to need food!” 

Niall starts dividing up the food, giving everyone a shopping list. Zayn rolls his eyes at the Irish boy, Liam takes notes on his phone, and Louis looks fondly at Harry. Having a group of friends is nice.

-

Niall’s waiting for Weston when he comes in, arms crossed and bow furrowed. Weston looks shocked and annoyed to see Niall.

“You left me here!” Niall shouts. “You left all of us here, you dick! What is wrong with you? Why didn’t you check to make sure everyone was gone before you locked up?” 

Weston rolls his eyes. “If you had been doing your job like you were supposed to then this wouldn’t have happened.” He mutters. 

“No, no! This is not my fault, it’s yours!” Niall storms past Weston, his friends in tow, and out the door. “Also, I quit!” 

-

They stand in a group hug in front of the bus stop until Niall starts to stagger from being on his feet for too long. He tumbles and brings them all down with him.

“So we meet at Harry’s on Friday for Lad’s Bungalow Weekend?” Liam asks, tugging lightly on Harry’s curls.

“Yeah, I’ll text everyone my address later.” Harry stands as a bus pulls up to the stop. “This one’s me.”

Louis stands and wraps an arm around Harry’s waist. “I’ll walk you home.”

They group hug one last time before finally letting Harry and Louis get on the bus.

“I’ve been thinking,” Louis says, “and I don’t think I can wait ‘til Friday to see you again.”

Harry grins bashfully. “Me either.” 

Louis pecks Harry’s cheek and laces their fingers together. “How about tomorrow I show you around Doncaster? Get you acquainted with more than just the department store?”

“Aw, I’ve grown rather attached to that store.” Harry says with a pout.

“We can go back on our anniversary.”

-

“I meant it when I said you could stay with me whenever you want.” Zayn states. They’re outside Liam’s house, both of them staring at it as if it’ll eat them.

“I know. I might take you up on that, be prepared.” Liam replies. He’s still waiting for Zayn to ask him out. He can feel it coming in every look and touch between them.

“I’ll see you Friday, Liam.” Zayn says, squeezing Liam’s shoulder and walking down the pavement and away from Liam.

“Hey, wait!” Liam cries, running after Zayn. “Aren’t you going to ask me out?” Zayn narrows his eyes at him, clearly confused. “You were supposed to ask me out.” Zayn’s quiet, watching Liam. “Fine, I’ll do it. Will you go out with me?”

Zayn laughs and Liam’s heart drops. “Yeah, Liam, I’ll go out with you.” Then Zayn’s walking away again and Liam feels like he’s floating.

Liam’s parents are about to leave for work when he walks through the front door. 

“Where have you been?” His mother asks, not stopping her routine to look at him.

Liam answers the same way he does every time he stays out all night, hiding from his parents. “With some friends.” It’s the first time it’s not a lie.

Liam goes to his room and pulls out his suitcase. Friday is two days away but Liam’s too excited to wait. He wants to see his friends again, wants to see them all the time. They’ve found something in the five of them, something Liam is not giving up. He sees them getting closer, doing big and wonderful things together. They’re going somewhere together, Liam knows it. The others might not but Liam will set them straight. 

All he needs is for Friday to hurry up so they can all be together again.


End file.
